What we experienced at Barnsdall

I am looking forward to carefully listening to the messages. Particularly those on prayer. (I heard them in pieces due to computer problems here.)

I hope Greg that you got my note on the duplicate posting of messages.

This encouragement to seek Him needs to be heard widely as I commented, understood and acted on. [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=279&min=20&orderby=titleA&show=20]Praying for Revial by Richard Owen Roberts[/url]

Watchman Nee's devotional for June 6, 2009 was quite to your point Frank of the gathered body of Christ. (Sourse: owner-newsletter@c-f-p.com on behalf of Christian Fellowship Publishers)

[b]June 6th - The Lord My Portion by Watchman Nee[/b]

But we will not glory beyond our measure, but according to the measure of the province which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even unto you. 2 Corinthians 10.13.

Each servant of the Lord has a measure of the sphere of work which God has apportioned to him; each believer has a divinely-appointed course to finish. If each one will stand in his post, do his share of work, and finish his appointed course, what a glory shall be seen!

A huge pillar is certainly essential to a house, but a small nail is not any the less needed. How can the church be established if each one in the church aspires to be a great revivalist or a great evangelist or a great teacher? Ought we not walk in the course of the Lord’s will? We should not aim at a great thing; we should stand instead in the place of God’s choice. If He wants us to do a small work quietly, we are happy to do it. For God does not seek “great talent”; He uses whoever is usable. May we be willing to take our place under the divine appointment.

The freedom that we felt at Barnsdall was tremendous. The freedom to speak as the Lord spoke to us. The Lord was given the time and space to speak through His people, and their was such consistancy in the words that came forward.

imagine if this freedom was the standard in the church, i am blessed to have been for the last year in such a setting, and it has so been raveled to me how having one man pastor will rob God and his children from so much good, to sit and listen to maybe 8-10 different people get up and speak along the same burden, same red line for two three hours and afterwards you have not looked once on your watch, not felt bored just a longing for God. I am glad you experienced Gods moving there.

Even as i was not there, something was different this year for the better i can sense. I was very blessed by Alan Martins singing and preaching...

Thank you for making it available brother Greg.

One thing that struck me particularly amazing about the entire thing was that such an "open church" happened with well over 100 or more people at a time. I've been told time and time again by many leaders that such an open format is not possible in such a large setting, otherwise disorder and chaos would enter the fray. I've always believed such was a lie from hell, and I firmly believe that such was actually demonstrated by the Lord Himself at this conference as a lie from hell. When God's glory is there and is consciously at risk of being wrongly touched, had there been 10,000 saints there, I believe this type of meeting would still have been possible.

Frank writes:
"The freedom that we felt at Barnsdall was tremendous. The freedom to speak as the Lord spoke to us. The Lord was given the time & space to speak through His people, & there was such consistency in the words that came forward...There is such a hunger for genuine freedom in our churches."

Amen Brother!

This aspect is so important because all God's people are Priests (not only the one's in paid positions) as well, of course, as being Body. The whole body needs to function, not just an extremely limited part of it.

Along with this important aspect, there were 2 other qualities about Barnsdall that need to be highlighted.

Having started my journey of faith from out of the charismatic renewal of the '70s, I knew the privilege of seeing the Spirit work in power, of seeing the gifts in free operation, & of encountering genuine worship (not just singing).

As I stood in the main hall with all the others this past Thursday night, completely engulfed in the presence, the power & the unfettered Joy of the Lord because HE HAD COME (in what, should be noted, is His normal fullness) I reflected back on what the differences were between this time, & the time in the '70s, in His Church.

In a sentence — renewal has grown up!

The 2 other aspects we had, that were so often not present in the '70s (leadership was still trying to figure out what to do with this Spirit that had been poured out & often lost their way) were:

1. Solid Teaching & Doctrine (from men who have first known utter surrender) &
2. Wise Leadership (from previously broken and thus humble as well as discerning men)

These 2 aspects, combined with the presence & power of the Holy Spirit, make for a dangerous mix in His house! You'll either break free, be broken in order to be freed, or — flee!

There were of course other unique & wonderful things that comprised this week at Barnsdall:

•\tthe praying intercessors who have met for many months together, crying out to God with desperate longing for Him to come

•\tthe tremendous unity amongst so many different cross sections of His Body, including the institutional church & the house church; the gifts practising & gifts unitiated; old order Christianity & newer order Christianity; well educated & less educated; long-churched & the newly churched; youth & older ones: all given the grace & the space to participate together, in true Christian humility & love.

And there was the Servant Church of the people of First Baptist Church, Barnsdall, who labored to provide everything at no charge to His people, including all meals, much lodging, etc.

Undergirding all these lies the stubborn conviction of one man. Three years ago or more, before the 1st Revival Conference was launched at others’ request, he knew he could not cave in to marketing, to selling, to profiting, or to not trusting the Lord to provide everything freely and offer everything freely. We thank God for that little blade of grass that He’s raised up behind Sermon Index.

No offerings were taken, no monies collected. All materials were given away freely, including the final, professional, CD copies of the messages. The videos, in similar fashion, are on their way.

By now you're getting the picture.

It wasn’t a bit of heaven, it was heaven.

This is eternal life that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. Jn 17:3

A lot of knowing happened this week in Barnsdall, in full-bodied, biblically empowered & true Spirit-birthed sense, and not only in the declared preaching, as excellent as that was.

Some leaders have long recognized that the Church has for too long focused on getting people into heaven, while ignoring getting heaven into people. We need both.

We’ll never be freed or equipped to live fully for the glory of God, until the presence of God dwells in His temple again—in us, His living stones.

If God will take something of the gifts, the convictions & the deposit that was released at Barnsdall, & continue to fuel & form it out into little pockets of believers here & there across this land (and in His grace continue to allow such giftings and deposits to be brought together from time to time) God will soon have Himself a Living Church again. Even here, in North America.

Though that church may remain small, unnoticed, & unadvertised (I pray that it will) that church may very well accomplish more good from out of her baby toe than all the known, large, productive and advertised churches, combined. As I say that, I realize that this church may very well be the little baby toe, of His overall Church. Happy thought.

If this sounds like an overstatement to some readers, you need to find the next Barnsdall, and then watch for the fruit that comes out from it after. And pray for discernment in your fruit-looking, because a lot of fruit – sadly – isn’t recognized til later years in history.

God, we thank You so much for what You did in Barnsdall. You know that our prayer is indeed for Your glory, and for Your Son’s honor, by Your Spirit’s power. Continue to give us all grace, humility, thirst, and wisdom, to seek for You honestly, to give ourselves up to Christ humbly, and to welcome the Holy Spirit as He comes wholly.

In Jesus incredible name we pray. Amen

TK / theCHRISTway.org
--a forming community mission that aims - through the gifts of the Body at large combined with focussed engagement together --to reach down deep into the forgotten spots of our faith's heritage and reclaim the Life that is life indeed

Our one sister brought up a great point that I think was noticed by everybody at the conference, and indeed, made for fertile ground for which the Holy Spirit to operate, and that is this: hospitality. The church and Barnsdale truly took on a servant heart as the homes of many were opened for us all. We were warmly received in the name of the Lord, and, I imagined that such a reception is what the apostle Paul wrote about from time to time.

Though the people of that church clearly bent over backwards and went out of their way to do what they did, never once did I ever get the impression from any of them that they felt inconvenienced by doing the things they did. I was personally picked up by one sister at the airport in Tulsa. The associate pastor and his wife personally fed me lunch that afternoon and allowed me to check my e-mail on their computer. The Marvin family, folks from another church down the street, graciously allowed me to stay in their guest house on their ranch, and allowed me and my roommate to use their pickup truck to come and go as we pleased. Another individual drove us around when we first arrived as well. And if all this were not enough, a scrumptious feast was prepared every single day for every single meal at the church. Finally, the associate pastor drove me back to the airport even though I had to leave a few hours early from the conference.

All of this, I believe was absolutely crucial to providing fertile soil for the Holy Spirit to do His work, as experienced in the proclaimed word and in our times of worship. I am a Pentecostal and believe in and speak in tongues. Yet this week I was so impressed that when I came back and talked to my pastor, I told him that at this conference I was all the more convinced than I was before that there are clearly "Spirit-filled" believers out there who have never even spoken in tongues. That may wreck our Pentecostal theology, but it is a truth I am convinced of just the same.

Also, a praise report from the Barnsdale Revival Conference: I really have had an unbroken sense of the Lord's presence since the conference, and felt it tonight when I was able to preach at a conference my church was putting on, "The Pillars Conference."

I felt so humbled to stand before the men of my church, and to preach a message on being "fathers of faith." All the men, except one, were easily 10-40 years older than me. The Lord really has moved at our conference as well, and the presence of the Lord has been very sweet. The speaker that spoke after me, having no idea on what I was going to preach on tonight, ended up preaching on one of the same primary texts I preached from. He already had that passage in his notes of all things! God really spoke a word of requirement to us as a church.

appolus wrote:
There is such a hunger for genuine freedom in our churches. Not chaos, genuine freedom and with genuine freedom, when the Holy Spirit is in charge there is order.

"Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." The order of His Lordship, and the liberty of His Spirit.

Perhaps it is time to cancel all programs and seek Him. If we seek to hear from Him, there must be time in our services where He is allowed to speak through His people

It is time, and past time.

Our Lord calls us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," and I believe it's this-- the corporate expression of His word that you are referring to-- that is the bread God has in mind for this day we are entering into now.

Not just the "bread" the pastor or the preacher gives... and we are thankful for that in its day... but the bread which is His body. "For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one Bread" (1 Cor. 10.17).

Of course, we do not just everyone give forth what we have as we see fit. The bread must be surrendered into His hands, and broken in and by His hands. Only then will He Himself be revealed.

...I'm glad to hear the good report.

AD

hospitality....
All of this, I believe was absolutely crucial to providing fertile soil for the Holy Spirit to do His work, as experienced in the proclaimed word and in our times of worship.

I wasn't there, but can agree that a heightened spirit of hospitality is a hallmark of spirit-led services or congregations. Perhaps it is the expression of counting others higher then ourselves, or that we recognize the love God has for his people.

It is wonderful to hear all your hearts here.

MC

I am a Pentecostal and believe in and speak in tongues. Yet this week I was so impressed that when I came back and talked to my pastor, I told him that at this conference I was all the more convinced than I was before that there are clearly "Spirit-filled" believers out there who have never even spoken in tongues. That may wreck our Pentecostal theology, but it is a truth I am convinced of just the same.

Truly, this is craftmanship of God in the soul of a believer, the opening of the eyes. I've found time and time again that when God does a substantial work in my life, it usually involves a major re-arrangement of theology or a concept that I, up until then, held as non-negotiable.

Paul

Paul's: ...the whole 'uniform initial evidence' theology went out the window for me when I began exposing myself to the ministry of brethren not of the Pentecostal camp but who clearly preached with the unction of heaven and with an authority in God I had yet to experience in all my years as a Pentecostal.

I think the key is the word 'unction'. The voice of God can be in the mouth of those that are filled with the Spirit and glory of God. I think this is the real key, an unction.

I felt the conference that I was able to experience was tremendous and that God dealt with issues that would prepare us for genuine revival on a large scale. There was a gentleness and compassion that brought us face to face with God as a loving Father. I feel God demonstrated His goodness and brought it to a reality in our hearts. It was a real breath of fresh air that we desperately needed.

I was raised Pentecostal as well, and was even a certified minister with AG for a few years, but the whole 'uniform initial evidence' theology went out the window for me when I began exposing myself to the ministry of brethren not of the Pentecostal camp but who clearly preached with the unction of heaven and with an authority in God I had yet to experience in all my years as a Pentecostal.

Indeed. Ravenhill is a notable example of this. Though very welcomed in Pentecostal circles, he said time and time again he had never spoken in tongues. He never knocked such a thing. Yet without a doubt, I've never heard one classical-Pentecostal preacher speak with an unction that even came close.

I'm reminded of a young teenage girl from this conference, I believe it was the pastor's daughter. She stood up numerous times throughout the three days we were gathered, and she would pray, read Scripture, and I think even lightly exhort/testify in front of the entire congregation. Indeed, to me at times she really seemed to "punch" the atmosphere and charge it with God's presence when He needed to move. Yet, knowing that she's Southern Baptist, it is unlikely she's ever spoken in tongues. Yet, I have no doubt as to her fullness in the Spirit. Indeed, to date I have only personally known and seen one young teenage girl in my circle that could compare.

Shoot, I would even say that God used her more mightily than me at the conference. And I probably openly participated a half dozen times or so. The first time I heard her pray, I opened my eyes and expected to see an older woman praying. I was blown away that she could not have been much more than 13 or 14. Amazing.

It is heaven on earth when God gathers His people together and rains down upon them. Flowing through our cracked and broken vessels, He binds us together and we begin to move as one. As shards of pottery that have been ground to dust, He pours water upon the whole and fashions a new vessel - a pure and holy vessel, meet for the Master's use. Oh the joy that fills the heart of a body totally surrendered unto Him. Oh the ecstasy of riding upon the wings of His love. Oh the rapture of being found in Him.

He is gently chiseling and polishing His precious children. Patiently forming us into so many jewels as He prepares us for our final entry into His kingdom. In my mind I can see Him casting us out upon the earth. Like small stones cast upon the surface of a pond - each stone sending forth a small ripple of concentric circles that slowly converge and eventually cover the entire surface of the pond.

Oh how I long for the day when all of God's people will truly be His.

...to Him who sits on the throne and unto the lamb!